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Gaisatoi (Gallic Naked Fanatics)
Furious, zealous and mad with courage, these formidable warriors are excellent shock troops, ideal for breaking all but the most determined of enemy formations. Description "Naked Fanatics" Armour? Pah! Let lesser men clad themselves in mail, let them shiver in fear beneath their cuirasses of leather and soil those colourful breeches which they paid so highly for. The truly brave place their faith in the gods alone. The Gaisatoi are such men. Shorn of the wool and steel which shroud other men, these warriors place their fate in the hands of the gods. Upon the field of battle they stand, a terrifying site, mighty men with arms as thick as oak and bodies born not of the womb but forged from pure strength. Upon their naked chests can be found the scars of previous battles, these are the verses which speak of past glory. To face these men is to know true fear. Further and faster than the raven their javelins fly. As fast as any horse they charge. And with the fury of an enraged bear they tear their foes to pieces. Historically, there is direct historical evidence to support the existence of the Gaisatoi in the form of information provided by the Hellene historian Polybius. According to him the Gaisatoi (or Gaesatae as he terms them) were a band of expensive mercenaries from Gallia Transalpina employed by the Boioi and Insubres of Gallia Cisalpina in 225BC to help fight against the Romani. At the Battle of Telamon later that year the Boioi and Insubres fought in their cloaks and trousers, whilst the Gaisatoi went into battle nude. This display of nudity was sufficiently shocking to the enemy that Polybius described the effect it had at length "Very terrifying too was the appearance and the gestures of the naked warriors in front, all in the prime of life, and finely built men, and all in the leading companies richly adorned with gold torques and armlets. The sight of them indeed dismayed the Romans". Polybius records that the nudity of the Gaisatoi, although providing a distinct psychological edge over their opponents, was also their downfall, as it resulted in them suffering very high casualties as a result of the onslaught from the Romani pila, whilst their small shields failed to prevent them suffering from further injuries. The name Gaisatoi itself derives from the Keltoi for "spear". although Polybius incorrectly records it as reflecting the mercenary status of these warriors. In addition to psychological effect it had upon enemies, nudity in battle may also have had practical and social purposes. By going into battle nude, warriors may have lessened the chances of their wounds becoming infected than had they worn clothes, the logic being that if a blade punctured the skin, fabric from the clothes (which were likely none too clean anyway) worn could be introduced to the wound, whereupon an infection would set in. Fighting nude likely also had a social function. Herodion, in describing the Pictish habit of fighting with few clothes, says that the Picts fought in such a fashion in order to display the tattoo designs on their bodies. Earlier Keltoi warriors may have fought nude for a similar reason, displaying their healed wounds as indicators of battle prowess. How common nudity in battle actually was is debatable, an Etruscan stele from Bologna from the 5th Century BC shows Keltoi like warriors with no clothes, whilst the famous "Dying Gaul" from Pergamon likewise shows a nude warrior and such troops are recorded as having existed in the early 3rd century BC in that region. Contrary to this, however, is the prevalence for barbarians to be depicted nude in Romani art. Coffins, triumphal arches and in particular funeral stelae dedicated to cavalrymen, frequently depict barbarian foes as being naked, whilst the Romani troops appear fully clothed. The prevalence of nudity among Keltoi warriors may therefore have been exaggerated by Classical authors to emphasise the savagery of their northern opponents. Category:Units Category:Units available only in EB2 Category:Aedui Category:Arverni Category:Mercenary